Monday, 23 April 2018

Charity Focus: 4Louis.

I'm hoping to start a little series of posts focusing on charities that we've accessed or have supported us, since the loss of Jonah. I'm thinking a monthly series, chatting about some of the charities I'd never even heard of before we had Jonah, as well as the well-known charities that have been a lifeline to us. So with that in mind, I'm going to start this week with 4Louis.

Many of you may never of heard of this incredible charity. 4Louis were the first charity that helped us, literally hours after Jonah was born. Jonah's memory box was provided by 4Louis and has meant we have precious memories of our little boy. They also provide vital Cuddle Cots - one of which meant Jonah could spend 5 days with us in the hospital, meaning we could make even more memories with him.

A little bit of background information - 4Louis was set up in memory of baby Louis, who was born sleeping in 2009. Kirsty, Louis' mum founded 4Louis and went on to set up the charity, to help other families going through the loss of their baby/child. The charity provides hospitals with memory boxes for families who have lost babies, for those that lost due to early miscarriage, stillbirth, as well as infants and older children. As well as memory boxes and Cuddle Cots, 4Louis provide Moses baskets and photography equipment. Every memory box and piece of equipment that 4Louis provide, are donated to hospitals free of charge which is just amazing.

Okay, so what's in a memory box? There is a whole video of the boxes here.

- Clay Casting Kit for Foot and Hand prints

- Inking Kit for Foot and Hand Prints (which fit in a little card)

- SD Card for additional photos

- 'Guess How Much I Love You' book

- Glass Angel

- Candle

- Acknowledgement of birth

- Lock of Hair Box

- Blanket

- Balloon to Heaven

- Flower Seeds

- Two Teddies (one for Jonah and one for us - we swapped them just before we left the hospital, so we now have Jonah's and he had ours)

Image from 4Louis Facebook Page

This is such an amazing charity, that do such vital work for grieving families. We actually donated a box in Jonah's memory at Easter, which was a lovely way to give back. If you want to find out more about the chairty or donate, you can find the link here.